Grade gauge



G. R. PHILLIPS GRADE GAUGE April 11, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 9, 1945 Him - INVENTOR. 650F615 l2. /l/LL/PS BY @6 44, M [@44 April 11, 1950 e. R. PHILLIPS GRADE GAUGE Filed Nov. 9, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR. GEORGE E. Pmums W m a M Patented Apr. 11, 1950 UNI T ED S TATES PATEN T OFFICE GRADE GAUGE George R. Phillips, sacramentm lflalif.

Application November 9, 1945, Serial N0. 627715 2' Claims.

1 "Thisinvention relates to 'grade'gauges and-has 'for itsmain'object the provision 'of'means'for enabling the operator'on =a grader'to accurately {grade the ground to'the desired level without stopping the graderto read figures 'orto take measurements.

.Another object of the'inventionis the pro- -vision "of 'a system or combination, including "stakes driven into the ground for indicating to the operator on a grader exactly where the cutting edged! the grader' blade'is withrespect to .thedesired finished level-of the grade and" which 'combination is so designedthat if anypnestake should" accidentally be knockedbver ordislodged by the grader blade, the operator may readily replace it with its ori inal accuracy. and with out requiring any calculation.

.Heretofore. in gradingroads or in grading fields "orgplots of' ground for anyrspecial purpose such'as for buildings or for airplanelandings,.football,

baseball, etc., it has been the ':custom "to first roughly grade the ground'to about the desired level and'thenstakes are .driven'along" the road sides or in lOWsIal spaced .intervals in "thelfield, which stakes'are markedto indicate the number offeetor inches to be takenaway or to be filled at thegpoints where'the stakes are driven. ISuch marks may read +12 or 12 or"cut 12 or fill 12, indicating that in order to produce the .desired grade level at thatpoint twelve inches :mu'st be cut or filled as the case maybe. Obviou'sly the result is more or'lessa matter of guesswork on the part of the operator who .is drivingthe bulldozer, grader or scraper that is being used to do the job. -The fi ures or marks 'used'are ordinarily hardtoread and if the stakes "are knocked over, they may The .obliterate'd or rendered illegible.

"With the, present inventionthe'operator -onLthe cgra'der, scraper, carryall, or .whatever,piece ;6f 1 equipment is being usedfor .the job, scan readily 'see exactly Where'thecutting edge of the cutting blade is .at all times relative .to the desired finis'hed. level, either at night (using conventional lights) or in the daylight, thus enabling him .to

'zmakethe correct cutor fillirrespective of how :many timesit may .take .to vmake-the proper .cut

"101..fi11. Should anyof thezstakes' be? knocked over istakesare shown for.illustrating the invention.

'dis'tance above the desired finished level 3.

fbEi'gi 'zisrat frontzelevational view: of thefidevice 'ofjli'igfil.

Fig. 3 is an enlargedrfront'elevational-"view tdf .onehof :the graderfgauges indicated in Fig. '2,the end of the "grader blade "being indicate'd i-in section.

Fig. =4 is -a :plan" view of the grader gauge-"of Fig.3.

Fig. 5 is' a I fragmentary 1 perspective view "of the *hinge pin for the'grader gauge, "part of -the base plate beingv insection.

' Fig. '6 is a fragmentary perspective view of 'part'oi'the'grader-gauge that is adapted to be pivoted on the hingepinfa portion of the "said part'being insection.

"In-detail; referring to Figs. 1, 2, after the" preliminary grading of" the ground 'is accomplished there "are usually depressions I in the surface and elevations that arebelow and'above the desired level indicated by the dot-dash line '3.

'In carrying out the present invention stakes 4 aredriven into the ground in the usual manner,

butinsteadof'thesestakes bearing the conventional numbers designating the amount to fill or to cut they'each' have a' mask 5 painted or otherwise afiixed thereto. The stake is driven into the ground-until the'mask 5 is at apredetermined Thus in levelinga -field or road anyone looking down a'row'of'sta'kes will readily see'that the ..marks 5 are all in regular alignment. driven too "deeply or not deeply :enough,"that If any, stake j is 'fact will be readilyapparentbecause "the markf5 will clearly be 'higher vorlovverthan the marks on the other stakes in the row. 'Thus should "any "stake be'inadvertently knocked over'jpractically anyinexperienced "operator can replace .it merely bytseeingthat the markiis substantially aligned in"a"vertical plane with the marks Son .the other stakes 'beyond'iit.

For the purpose of description, .it will he assumed thatthe distance between the marks 5 on'the'stakes andtheplane orlevel 3 isitwoffeet or twentysfour inches. If thelowercutting edge .6: of ,theggrader blade 7 is .at the level,3.and is functioning. towither cut the earth .or to spread .the .previou'sly .cut .earth: 8 thatmay pile .up in .the: blade oraaheadofiit the factzisclear that the '-v'vhen=1the.i cuttingaedge 6:.of the blade hasreachd :the E'finished slevel, was above described, rgrade gauges in are provided at the opposite ends of the grader blade 1 which gauges, in the above described example, are at a level twenty-four inches above the cutting edge 6 of the blade. Thus when the gauges pass the stakes at the level of marks and the grader blade is cutting or spreading dirt, there is no question but that the level 3 has been reached and no more cutting or filling should be done.

The grader blade in the drawings is shown on the conventional blade elevating or lowering arms H of an ordinary tractor l2, such blade, arms and tractor being commonly termed a bulldozer. However, in so far as this invention is concerned, the particular implement may be a scraper of the carryall type or any other scraper using a scraper blade and arranged to fill as well as to cut. The mere provision of a blade adapted to push the dirt ahead of the same is satisfactory in most instances inasmuch as the heavy excavatin or filling has ordinarily been accomplished and there is suflicient dirt in the elevated areas to fill the depressions.

The grade gauges themselves may comprise a base member l5 (Figs. 3, 4) adapted to be secured in any suitable manner, such as welding l6, bolting, brazing, etc. to the scraper blade or to any portion of the blade assembly at the ends thereof that may move with the blade. For example, in bulldozers and carryall scrapers the blade usually includes rigid end plates I! at the ends of the blades to which the base member l5 may be secured. Otherwise the said member may be secured directly to the blade. The important thing is that the said member be secured rigidly in some manner or other to the blade for up and down movement as a unit with said blade and that said base member be a predetermined height above the level of the lower cutting edge of the blade.

Member [5 may have a vertical hinge pin l8 secured thereto and projecting from the side of the member facing outwardly of the adjacent end of the cutting blade.

A bracket I9 is pivotally secured to the hinge pin I8 by loops 20 encircling the pin which loops may be enlarged at one side as at 2| (Figs. 4, 6) for abutting the member l5 when the bracket [9 extends at right angles to member 15 or in a direction at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the bulldozer or scraper. This enlargement 2| is at the leading side of the hinge pin relative to the direction of travel of the scraper and, therefore, the bracket I 9 may swing rearwardly if it strikes some object during forward movement of the scraper but it will not swing in the opposite direction or forwardly past the enlargement. A coil spring 22 (Fig. 4) secured to the member l5 and bracket I9 yieldably holds the bracket in its outwardly extending position and will return it to said position should it swing rearwardly.

The bracket I9 is formed with a vertically elongated head 23 (Fig. 3) that is formed with a vertical row of spaced holes 24 therein.

Removably secured to head 23 by a bolt 25 and a pin 26 is a support 27. This support 21 is formed with an opening for bolt 25. When pin 26 is in one of the holes 24 one of the openings 24 thereabove will be in register with the bolt opening in the support 21. Thus upon insertion of said bolt and tightening of the nut on the same, the support will be rigidly held on the bracket against any tendency to pivot in any direction. The use of the pin 26 merely obviates the necessity for using two bolts. Upon removing bolt 25 the support 21 may be moved up or down to a new position on head 23.

Support 21 carries a horizontal pivot 28. The axis of pivot 28 is parallel with the longitudinal axis of the bulldozer or scraper and it pivotally supports a piece 29 that in turn has a horizontally extending flexible element 30 secured thereto at one of the ends of said element.

Piece 29 further includes a Weight 3| that acts as a counterweight for blade 30 for holding element 3!! horizontal at all times irrespective of the inclination of the grader blade and head 23 or support 21,

The element 30 is flexible and is practically the same as a hacksaw blade except for the absence of teeth. The element is positioned with its fiat sides vertical thus no bending or sagging will take place vertically but the blade may, in a horizontal plane, yield in either direction. Preferably the rear side of said element 30 is painted white or a light tint so as to be visible in a dim light such as at night where the usual lights are used for night grading. Of course, both sides may be painted, but the important thing is that whatever side faces the driver of the bulldozer or scraper should be light to facilitate seeing it in a relatively dim light.

The marks 5 may be also light although the important thing is that they be in a color to clearly be seen by the driver in a dim light.

By reason of the structure as described above, it will be apparent that the driver can clearly tell when the grading has reached the desired level without reading the numbers and without making a guess as to whether or not the desired depth of cut or fill has been made.

It is to be understood that the detailed drawings and description are not intended to be restrictive of the invention but merely illustrative of a preferred form. For example, in many instances it would be possible to secure the element 30 directly to the grading blade or base member 15, but where the scraper is working in a cut or alongside a bank the blade 30 might be snapped off if it were not for the hinged bracket I 9. Also were the grader or scraper always working on the level, the pivot 28 could be eliminated. For unusual use the structure disclosed or its equivalent in function is preferable.

I claim:

1. A grade gauge of the character described for securement to an upwardly extending end of a horizontally extending earth grading blade comprising a base member adapted for securement to said end, an elongated horizontally extending element secured at one end of its ends to said base member, said element being straight and flexible for yielding in a horizontal plane upon striking an object, means for securing said element to said member including a vertical pivot for swinging of said element horizontally, stop means to limit said swinging of said element in one direction to a predetermined position relative to said base member, spring means for yieldably holding said element in said predetermined position.

2. A grade gauge of the character described for securement to an upwardly extending end of a horizontally extending earth grading blade comprising a base member adapted for securement to said end, an elongated horizontally extending element secured at one end of its ends to said base member, said element being straight and flexible for yielding in a horizontal plane upon striking an object, and means for securing said element to said member at one of various heights, a horizontal pivot supporting said element at its end adjacent said base member for vertical swinging of said element, and a counterweight connected with said element at one side of said pivot for holding said element horizontal 5 at all times.

GEORGE R. PHILLIPS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 10 file of this patent:

Number UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Vibbert Mar. 26, 1912 Yocum Aug. 15, 1916 George Nov. 1, 1921 Smith Mar. 6, 1928 Hays May 17, 1932 Hickey Sept. 11, 1945 Bloomingburg Jan. 14, 1947 

